COVER: A Kyle Police Department officer walks away from the wreckage of a motorcycle operated by a man who died Friday morning when he was struck by a passenger car and ran into a concrete retaining wall. PHOTO by MOSES LEOS III/HAYS FREE PRESS

COMPILED FROM MEDIA REPORTS

KYLE — A man died Friday morning when his motorcycle was struck by a passenger car on southbound Interstate 35 in Kyle. A day earlier, five people including a child were killed in a sports-utility vehicle rollover on Texas 130 near Mustang Ridge.

At about 10:45 a.m. Aug. 14, James Grear, 49, of Gibson County, Tenn. was struck by a vehicle and lost control of his BMW K1600 bike, smashing into a concrete retaining wall near the Kyle Crossing overpass. Grear was thrown from the motorcycle into the northbound side of the interstate where he was later pronounced dead, Kyle police chief Jeff Barnett told the Hays Free Press.

Witnesses said Kelly Watson, 37, of Round Rock was either changing lanes or swerved unintentionally into other southbound traffic, Barnett said; she was treated at the scene and transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Watson has not been charged with a crime and an investigation is ongoing, the Hays Free Press reported.

The collision forced closure of Interstate 35 in both directions for about three hours during late morning and early afternoon Friday. The interstate will likely be closed again overnight Wednesday, Aug. 19 while police reconstruct the accident as part of their investigation.

Also on Friday, a child died at Dell Children’s Medical Center from injuries suffered a day earlier when a SUV carrying four adults and five children veered off Texas 130 in Caldwell County and rolled down an earthen embankment near the Texas 21 overpass, Mustang Ridge police chief Michael Rodriguez told KVUE News. Shredded rubber tread found near the crash site suggests the accident was caused by a tire blowout, Rodriguez said.

“Anytime that you walk up on a scene with children involved it’s a heartbreaker … Then you have to regain your composure and continue working to try to save the lives that are still there,” Rodriguez said.

Thrown from the tumbling vehicle, the driver and three adult passengers died at the scene; five children passengers were airlifted to Dell where three of them underwent hours of emergency surgery on Thursday, Fox 7 News reported. One of the children reportedly died on Friday.

All nine were members of a Round Rock family returning from a trip to Mexico, the Austin FOX network affiliate reported. Rodriguez has so far declined to release the names of those killed and injured in the wreck. The children range in age from infancy to 15-years-old.